Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meridian Co. (NASDAQ:MRBK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 13,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $186,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC owned about 0.12% of Meridian at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Meridian in the fourth quarter valued at $139,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Meridian by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Meridian by 265.1% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 36,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 26,835 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Meridian by 10.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 40,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $511,000 after acquiring an additional 3,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Meridian by 122.9% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 44,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,000 after acquiring an additional 24,648 shares during the last quarter. 58.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meridian Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRBK opened at $14.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.67 million, a PE ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business has a 50-day moving average of $13.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.70. Meridian Co. has a 12 month low of $9.10 and a 12 month high of $17.33.

Meridian (NASDAQ:MRBK) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.12). Meridian had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 10.01%. The company had revenue of $27.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.93 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meridian Co. will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Meridian Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Meridian’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert M. Casciato bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $13.79 per share, for a total transaction of $27,580.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 215,396 shares in the company, valued at $2,970,310.84. This represents a 0.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 14.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on MRBK shares. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Meridian from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Meridian from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th.

About Meridian

Meridian Corporation operates as the holding company for Meridian Bank that provides commercial banking products and services in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida, and Maryland. The company offers various deposit products, such as demand non-interest bearing, demand interest bearing, savings accounts, money market accounts, and time deposits.